Transformed warehouse to reopen as Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles

By this weekend, the 1944 wood-frame building will become Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles, a monster venue billed as an arts and crafts mecca. It's envisioned as holding 500 micro-businesses and drawing 500,000 visitors a year.

The venue officially opens at 10:30 a.m. Friday with 100 artists who will be ready to sell. After that, Crafted will be open Fridays through Sundays each weekend.

Little has been done to alter the vintage warehouse, one of two being transformed for the project that will be phased in over time.

Once the companion Warehouse No. 9 is finished, it will give artists 135,000 square feet of display space. In between is an outdoor courtyard where live music and other entertainment is planned.

Along with the arrival of the USS Iowa battleship, Crafted is considered a cornerstone in the Port of Los Angeles' emerging waterfront.

"We realized there's a real interest in the country right now in homemade arts and crafts," said Kathryn McDermott, deputy executive director of the port's business development group. "This was such a unique idea."

With both the Iowa and Crafted, the port is now developing the "critical mass" needed on the waterfront to begin attracting more outside developers, McDermott said.

And interest has been high among local residents to find a way to keep the old warehouses - which held everything from automobiles to bolts of cotton in the past - intact and given a new purpose.

Inside Warehouse No. 10, there's no air-conditioning - but there are 18-foot-span "Big Ass" (yes, it's a brand name) ceiling fans that look powerful enough to sweep your hair straight up on end. Aside from plumbing and electrical updates - and a new roof and concrete floor - the warehouse looks much the same as it probably did in the 1940s.

"It's part of our green philosophy to tread lightly, to leave the building essentially as we found it," said Alison Marik Zeno, executive director and partner in the Crafted team.

"You could never re-create the quality of a building like this," she said.

Other team members are Wayne Blank, founder and brainchild behind Bergamot Station, and Howard Robinson, who handles the real estate end.

They have agreed with the port to spend $5 million rehabbing both buildings, a benchmark they're fast approaching, Zeno said.

"We've put our money where our mouth is," Zeno said, praising the port also for working closely with them throughout the process.

The building makes use of passive lighting - natural light streaming in from the clerestory windows provides an authentic and minimalist setting setting. The exterior had to be newly sided for weatherproofing. It's also been painted with a color called "Peace Yellow."

Mementoes from the past have been found nestled in the 70-year-old patina Douglas fir interior walls, including empty liquor and beer bottles dating back to the 1940s and '50s.

Stenciled wall designations and random painted phrases - like "Beware of Sentry Dogs" - will be kept as is.

"We use contrast to our advantage," Zeno said, noting that newly created art will be housed in such a historical building.

And it now seems like some kind of "crazy kizmet," Zeno said, that the World War II ship the USS Iowa will share the waterfront spotlight with Crafted housed in a Navy-built warehouse.

"None of that was planned when we started talking about this," she said.

While the pricey Bergamot gallery was the inspiration, Crafted won't be "Bergamot South," Zeno said.

Crafted will be the largest permanent arts and crafts venue in the region and will offer high quality goods - artists have to apply and be accepted for spaces - but it also will have a populist feel, she said.

"We've set the bar pretty high but the artisans who applied blew us out of the water," Zeno said.

Everything must be made by hand using U.S. materials.

"I hope one day this replaces many trips to the mall," Zeno said, noting that most everything - linens, paper goods, handbags, paintings, jewelry, specialty and gourmet foods, ceramics and graphic design showpieces - will be sold at Crafted once it's fully built out.

She's still looking for someone who makes custom surfboards or skateboards.

Admission is free and the weekend hours also will feature live entertainment, food and demonstrations.

Many people have asked Zeno why something like this doesn't already exist, she said.

For artists who have signed an initial six-month lease, Crafted offers a permanent display, saving money - along with wear and tear - over traveling to craft shows throughout the year.

"This is the perfect environment for people who are looking for something different," said Mary Edwards, who with Peter Solomon is setting up their 7-11 Miracle Co. booth. Their Santa Monica company features potions in tiny amulets worn as jewelry.

While many artists are local, others come from Riverside, San Diego and other outlying regions in Southern California.

"I had to put my preconceived (about San Pedro) notions on hold," acknowledged Amy Steelman of Riverside, who's setting up her Dogwood and Poppy jewelry booth at Crafted and only came to San Pedro as a teenager to visit an uncle.

Now, she said, the town is growing on her. Many are surprised by the spruced-up appearance of the nearby Cabrillo Marina and are fascinated by the gigantic container ships moving through the harbor.